Saturday, December 25, 2010

1)"On the road to TrivandrumCoconut oil in my hairWarm smell of avialRising up through the airUp ahead in the distanceI saw a bright pink tube-lightMy tummy rumbled, I felt weak and thinI had to stop for a biteThere he stood in the doorwayFlicked his mundu in styleAnd I was thinking to myselfI don’t like the look of his sinister smileThen he lit up a petromaxMuttering “No power today”More Mallus down the corridorI thought I heard them say

x"

This is a parody of a famous song. Identify the original and give me the name of this song.

2. Mirzapur is a city in the heart of North India, nearly 650 km between Delhi and Kolkata and also equidistant from Allahabad and Varanasi. There are loads of facts about Mirzapur, but frankly, most non-Mirzapurians don’t really care about most of them. However there is a small clock tower in the center of the city which is important to every single Indian and also to the global population. Why?

3. On New Year's Day in 1976, Danny Finegood and some friends “altered” a famous landmark, using only rocks, rope and four sheets. Members of the media were notified in advance of the unveiling, and photographs of the stunt later ran in newspapers across the globe.

Finegood said he was making a statement about the state's new marijuana law, which changed the charge of possession of marijuana from a felony to a misdemeanour. He was also an art student at Cal State University Northridge at the time, and he used the stunt as a project for his environmental sculpture class (reportedly receiving an “A”). What did he do?

Saturday, December 18, 2010

1. Which game is described as such Winston Churchill's words on the subject. "It is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose."?

2. Which is the longest word that you can type on a typewriter with only your left hand, ie., without the left hand crossing over to the other half?

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

1. Genentech Inc. is the world’s ﬁrst biotechnology company, founded in 1976 by a venture capitalist Robert Swanson and a biochemist Herbert Boyer. What was its ticker symbol on the NYSE? Note: It was acquired by Roche Ltd. in March. So, it now trades under the Roche’s ticker ROC.

2. The name of this product/service was selected because it was onomatopoeic. The word typically represents a sound of arrival or conclusion, such as the sound made when an elevator arrives. The company felt that it was memorable, short, easy to spell, and that it would remind people of the sound made during the moment of discovery and decision making. What is the name?

3. What common word originates from the fact that ancient Greek poetry was usually recited with the music of the lyre?

Monday, December 13, 2010

1. Michael Ryan Pritchard (born May 4, 1972) is an American musician, better known as Mike X is the bassist, backing vocalist and co-founder of the American rock band _____. While at school, he would play "air-bass." While pretending to pluck the strings, he made the noise, "X, X, X," so his schoolmates started to call him "Mike X".

Thursday, December 9, 2010

1) On January 21, 1972 DC Comics declared X "Hometown of Y". On June 9, 1972 the Illinois State Legislature passed a resoultion declaring the same. Among the ways the town celebrates the character are a large statue in the city, a small museum, and an annual Celebration. Also, it has a local newspaper, known as The Planet and the bank says advertises its "Super Financial Services". ID.

2) A possible origin for this English phrase is from printing presses. The letters were aranged in a wooden frame called the phrase. The completed phrases were put together in a larger frame called the ___. Once the phrases were finished it was time to X . X meant that the type was ready to be printed.

Wikipedia differs however.It says this English phrase originated from the silent movie era .Giving out more would make it obvious.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

1) Operation Frequent Wind is considered to be the largest evacuation using helicopters in history. 50,493 people were evacuated . Pilots accumulated 1,054 flight hours and flew 682 sorties throughout Operation Frequent Wind. Where did this take place and why?

2) X, An Indian politician, met Obama in 2008 before his election as a president. He discussed about a book being authored by him on Obama and lauded the Democrat for his dynamism ."Your dynamism and charisma have touched the hearts of people in remote corners of the world, crossing the barriers of the continents," he said. The draft of the book, Yes, We Can also earned an autograph from Obama, who signed, "X Yes, We Can" . Identify.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

It has been decided to hold the Mega-Whats (A national team championship quiz from KQA) in CBE. There would be a School and Open level quiz (both written). Teams of4 should be made up and registered with me on cbequizcircle@gmail.com by Tuesday Dec 7. Winning teams get to participate in the national round to be held in Bangalore to challenge for Wing Commander Mulky Trophy.

Date: 12/12/10 (Sunday)

Venue: PSG Institute of Management

Reporting time: 2.30 PM

Starting time: 3.00 PM

Duration: 100 minutes (approx.)

Number of questions: 60 (approx.)

Notice from KQA:

This is to announce the second edition of Mega-Whats, our National Open Quizzing Championship.

The quiz will be held across nine cities simultaneously. Apart from Bangalore , we have venue confirmations from Chennai, Hyderabad , Goa, Thrissur, Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi and Kolkata. More information on venues soon.

The details:

Date: Sunday, 12 December 2010

1. General quiz, open to all.

2. Teams of FOUR members (or less).3. Prior registration is essential.4. To register, please email cbequizcircle@gmail.com with Mega-Whats 2010 in the subject-header.

5. Please provide the names of the four people who comprise your team in the email-also indicate whether you are taking part in the school, college or open categories6. Email registrations will close on Tuesday 7th December 2010. Centre coordinators will allow entries after the cut-off date at their discretion.7. Please note that the quizzing community in your city may charge an entry fee to meet venue and equipment hire expenses.8. The school category is open only to teams comprising students from Std. VIII-X .9. School teams ( Std. VIII-X) are allowed free entry. A school may field ONE team.10. Please report by 1430hrs at the venue in your city. Since we need to ensure a coordinated start nationwide, the quiz will start at 1500hrs sharp. The doors will be closed five minutes before we begin.11. Contesting teams will answer in writing a quiz of six sections and about sixty questions, inclusive of audios, videos and visuals.12. Answers and scores will be announced immediately after the event-prizes will be given out for Best School Team, Best College Team, and Best Open Team.13. The prizes aren't small--they are insignificant.14. We will rank the top 100 teams across the country-this list will go up by the 25th of December.15. The rankings will be announced after adjudication. The decision of the quiz-masters will be final and binding on all participants.16. The city-winners will face off in June 2011 as part of the KQA 28th Anniversary.

2) X is believed to be a great warrior who lived when the Nayaks ruled parts of Tamil Nadu. He was the son of a King. His consorts were Bommi and Vellaiyammal. His bravery and talent earned him a chance to enter the army as a Commander. To curb robbery, made a law saying that a theif who was caught would have his arm and leg cut off. His enemies made the king to believe that he was also a robber and must be punished. The king who was already jealous of X sentenced him to the same punishment. He died as a result of this. Later the King realized X's innocence and regretted his act. X please.

Friday, December 3, 2010

1. Quoting Senthil Sir's perfect answer: They were part of the ladies group that presented the original Ashes urn to Ivo Bligh, the visiting English captain. He had earlier in the year lost a one-test series to Australia and symbolically a bail was burnt to signify the death of English Cricket and filled in the urn. As an aside, Ivo sailed to Australia to not only reclaim the series but also his love, Ms. Florence Murphy.

also cracked by Bagri and Ram

2. A label containing a six line verse is pasted on the urn. This is the fourth verse of a song-lyric published in Melbourne Punch on 1 February 1883:

When Ivo goes back with the urn, the urn;

Studds, Steel, Read and Tylecote return, return;

The welkin will ring loud,

The great crowd will feel proud,

Seeing Barlow and Bates with the urn, the urn;

And the rest coming home with the urn.

cracked by Senthil and Bagri.

3. on the England team: "They can't bat, they can't bowl and they can't field." referring to the 1986 tour to Australia.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

1. Lady Clarke and Ms. Florence Murphy were the most notable members of this group. Which group are we talking about and what is the connection with the Ashes?

2. Melbourne Punch(2 August 1855 - December 1925) was an Australian illustrated magazine formed by Edgar Ray and Frederick Sinnett, modelled closely on the London Punch. How is the Melbourne Punch related to the history of the Ashes?

3. Martin Johnson, in of the greatest quotable quotes of all time said this “ There are only three things that are wrong with this team ________, _________ and _________. Fill in the blanks

4. “ I see that his highness is conscientious objector” This was a rather sarcastic remark made by Douglas Jardine. About whom and what was the reason?

5. The washout at Melbourne in the ashes of 1971 led to an invention in cricket that many believe has led to the degeneration of the game. What?

6.The below mentioned is an exhaustive list. What connects them?

Spofforth F, Australia

Bates W, England

Briggs J, England

Hearne J, England

Trumble H, Australia

Warne S, Australia

Gough D, England

Clue: There was one more edition to this list after the first match in Brisbane in this year.

7. This is a very rare photograph of a huge cricket fan taken during the ashes series. ID the personality.

8. This picture was taken by the famous photographer Steve Lindsell. How do we more famously know the happening?(If possible, ID both players)

9. This usually happens once in 4 years and the years this phenomenon has happened are:

Sunday, November 28, 2010

1. Sitter: In 1972/73, when X was ten years old, her cousin, Mayadin, became the head of the family. He sent workers to cut down the neem tree (which was effectively the family's nest egg, in the village of Gorkha ka Purwa, UP) and sell the wood, intending to keep the proceeds for himself. Although her father saw no use in protest, X confronted her cousin. She taunted him, publicly called him a thief, and with her older sister staged a sit-in on his land. Even after violence against X—knocking her out with a brick—she wouldn't relent. In an effort to rid himself of the little nuisance, Mayadin arranged to have her married to a man named Putti Lal, who lived several hundred miles away. Putti Lal was in his thirties; X was eleven. She claimed in her autobiography that he was a man of "very bad character". In 1979, Mayadin accused X of stealing from his house. She denied the accusation, but the police arrested her anyway. In those three days in jail, she was beaten and raped repeatedly, then left in a rat-infested cell. She knew that her cousin was behind the injustice against her. The experience broke her body but ignited her hatred for men who routinely denigrated women.

Whose history?

2. Put fundae.

3. The name of the band was described by the band members as meaning "criss cross rhythms that explode with happiness" but it actually comes from the Fante word for highlife. They were one of the first bands from their continent to become hugely popular, leading to claims of their founding World Music. Identify this band.

4. During the recent ATP World Tour Finals in London, the pair of X and Y received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year award for spreading their message. Identify X and Y, and what was the message?

(comment about the second video: Even Chuck Norris shed a tear. watch and you'll know why.)

cracked by Praveen and Jun

2. The Last Breakfast

cracked by Praveen, Sticky, Meenam, Sourabh and Shiva.

3. Satyendranath Bose, after whose name the sub-atomic particles Bosons are named.

cracked by Praveen, Sticky, Sourabh, both Arjun's, Shiva. Part points to 2D

4. Officially, the world's dullest days.

Quoting Hindustan Times:

It was the year the Queen became the first reigning monarch to visit Australia and Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio, but 1954 also boasts of having the most boring day of the 20th century — April 11. After feeding 300 million facts into a new search engine, experts have announced there were no key news events or births and deaths of famous people.

"When the results came back, the winner was April 11, 1954 — a Sunday. Nobody significant died that day, no major events apparently occurred...," William Tunstall-Pedoe, founder of the new search engine True Knowledge, said.

According to BBC Radio, April 18, 1930, was the dullest day of the 20th century after an announcer informed the nation in the 6.30pm bulletin, "There is no news."

Cracked only by Shtud.

5. Roadrunner it is.

cracked by 2D, Sticky, Sundaram, both Arjun's and Shiva.

Added funda: According to Chuck Jones's rules for the show, there is no dialogue, except for "Beep, beep" and Wile E. Coyote yowling in pain.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

In a curious experiment initiated by Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten, X donned a baseball cap and played as an incognito street busker at the Metro subway station L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2007. The experiment was videotaped on hidden camera; among 1,097 people who passed by, only seven stopped to listen to him, and only one recognized him. For his nearly 45-minute performance, X collected $32.17 from 27 passersby (excluding $20 from the passerby who recognized him). Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for his article on the experiment. Identify X.

2. Question contribution: Rammohan

What is this painting called?

3. Funda contribution: Rammohan

In 1924, while working as a Reader at the Physics Department of the University of Dhaka, X wrote a paper deriving Planck's quantum radiation law without any reference to classical physics and using a novel way of counting states with identical particles. This paper was seminal in creating the very important field of quantum statistics. After initial setbacks to his efforts to publish, he sent the article directly to Albert Einstein in Germany. Einstein, recognizing the importance of the paper, translated it into German himself and submitted it on X's behalf to the prestigious Zeitschrift für Physik. As a result of this recognition, he was able to leave India for the first time and spent two years in Europe, during which he worked with Louis de Broglie, Marie Curie, and Einstein. Why is he famous today?

cracked by Ashok (credit for pointing out that funda), Sticky and Sundaram

3.

X: Jolyon Wagg

Y: Herge

Z: Capn. Haddock

cracked by Sticky and Devang Ghia

4. Time displayed on all ads.

Explained by some big shot from Apple: "We design the (product launch) keynotes so that the big reveal of the product happens around 40 minutes into the presentation. When the big image of the product appears on screen, we want the time shown to be close to the actual time on the audience's watches. But we know we won't hit 40 minutes exactly."

Thursday, November 25, 2010

1. The word X was first used in 1970 to describe an article (The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved, for Scanlan's Monthly) by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style. The "X fist," characterized by two thumbs and four fingers, was originally used in Hunter S. Thompson's 1970 campaign for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado. It has become a symbol of Thompson and X journalism as a whole. What am I talking about, and what is the significance of this journalistic style?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

2.X has its headquarters at Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka.The first X was opened in 1996 on Brigade Road in Bangalore.Today there are more than 1000 Xs in 141 cities.X has even tied up with WorldSpace and Microsense to enable its Xs with satellite radio and Wi-Fi, respectively.Now X is expanding into Europe by opening two Xs in Austria.Identify.

3.X is an insurance salesman working for Rock Bottom Insurance.He often tries to sell other characters insurance.Y based him on a salesman who came to Y's door and invited himself inside.X is a gregarious, simple, and overbearing man who enters the story by barging in uninvited.Z finds X frustrating, although X remains cheerfully oblivious and believes himself a great friend of Z.X often quotes his Uncle Anatole's stories, to Z's irritation.X is portrayed as a clueless tourist in the exotic places.X is generally seen as a more modern character, as opposed to the older archetypes that inhabit Y's earlier works.X? Y and Z become obvious then.

1. Funktionide is basically an advanced robotic pillow which responds to your mood by changing it's form depending on the way you hold it. Ulrich says that this is the first step in robots replacing humans as potential life partners. Go figure.

cracked by Ashok and Shiva

2. PETA campaigns against fur and fishing/hunting as sport, targeted at children, which came under heavy criticism for its portrayal.

Monday, November 22, 2010

1. This is something known as Funktionide, created by German designer Stefan Ulrich. What exactly is it?

2.

Picture 1 depicts something that was released in 2003. Picture 2, in 2005.

Put fundae.

3. "In the teeming metropolis of Mumbai, four people separated by class and language are drawn together in compelling relationships. Shai, an affluent investment banker on a sabbatical, strikes up an unusual friendship with Munna, a young and beautiful laundry boy with ambitions of being a Bollywood actor, and has a brief dalliance with Arun, a gifted painter. As they slip away from familiar moorings and drift closer together, the city finds its way into the crevices of their inner worlds."

Official synopsis of which film?

4. The first awards were held on February 11, 2009, at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn, NY. Approximately 300 people attended the event and dozens were turned away. The event was hosted by CNN anchor Rick Sanchez and featured an in-person guest appearance by MC Hammer and a video appearance by Shaquille O'Neal. The second awards were held at the Times Center in the New York Times building in Manhattan. Awards are usually presented in 26 official categories.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is the primary sponsor of the awards. The awards are organized by the co-founders of the Brooklyn-based startup company Sawhorse Media.

Identify the awards, and tell me who they honour.

5. Hand drawn map of something drawn by whom?

6. sitter for all the Crucible quizzers out there: The name of this company is derived from the surname of the company's Greek founder, Sotirio Voulgaris, who began his career as a jeweller in his home village Paramythia, where his first store is still seen. In 1877, he left for Corfu and then Naples. In 1881 he finally moved to Rome, where in 1884 he founded his company and opened his second shop in via Sistina. The current flagship store in via dei Condotti was opened in 1905 by him with the help of his two sons, Constantino and Giorgio. (unrelated to question: During the Second World War, Costantino and his wife Laura even hid three Jewish women in their own Roman home.) The store quickly became a place where the world's rich and famous came for the unique, high quality jewelry designs combining Greek and Roman art. What?

2. Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. One of its earliest uses of was as kohl, in Ancient Egypt. It also found use in early wireless communication systems, and in contact junction rectifiers (popularly known as "cat's whiskers") which were used as detectors in early crystal radios, till World War II. In 2009 however, it became world famous for its use as something. Put fundae, and id what it was used as.

3. Willem de X was a Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer. He co-authored a paper with Albert Einstein in 1932 in which they argued that there might be large amounts of matter which do not emit light, now commonly referred to as dark matter. He came up with the concept of the de X space and de X universe, a solution for Einstein's general relativity. He was also famous for his research on the planet Jupiter. Gimme X. Sitter.

4. An anecdote has it that when Philip II sent a message to Sparta saying "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground", the Spartans responded with the single, terse reply: "X". What?

5. 'We love Hollywood. We just have a funny way of showing it.' Tagline of?

6. “Yea, it’s on. I’m not exactly sure how the farm animals are going to fit into this whole thing (you can’t really ever be sure with farm animals…), but I like the idea of comparing two people together.”

1. The word has been traced back to use in Provence and Gascony, where it was used to describe anything which brought luck to a household. Suggestions were rife that that the word is derived from the Provincial French word for "concealed" , but thus is improbable. The word was first popularized in 1880, when French composer Edmond Audran wrote a popular comic operetta (the title of which is a direct reference to it). However, it had been in use in France long before this, as French slang among gamblers, derived from an Occitan word meaning "witch", and also another one meaning "spell." Audran's operetta was so popular that it was translated into English, introducing the word into the English language with its current definition.

2. The success and resulting cultural influence of the film X has spawned many references. The use of the nicknames (used in the film) in masculine communication, particularly "Y" and "Z", is often replicated or parodied. The masculine theme of the film has been the subject of humorous examination, with the homoerotic subtext examined in a monologue by Quentin Tarantino in Sleep with Me. X has also been spoofed in the 1991 film Hot Shots! starring Charlie Sheen, and liberally borrowed from in the 2004 Bollywood film Agnipankh. A quote from the film is one among AFI's 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes, which is directly referenced in a successful game franchise. Identify X, Y and Z.

3. simple one: The first time the phrase __________ was used was after X performed a concert in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1954, by announcer Al Dvorin. It was then used by promoter Horace Lee Logan on December 15, 1956, to plead with concert goers not to leave a concert hall to try to see X as he exited, and instead remain to see the other acts on the bill. The full quotation was "Please, young people... __________. He has gotten in his car and driven away.... Please take your seats." Who is X and what is the phrase?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

1. X is the hero of a Nintendo DS game, Boing! X DS, which was released in Japan, North America and Europe. He has a wide variety of merchandising such as cell phone straps, keychains, and plush dolls. He is one of the most recognized characters in Japan. Identify.

2. Such a sitter I'm not even sure why I'm asking: These two players are part of an elite list. Who are the remaining two members in the list?

3.

Memory test.

"This one is for the books."

Identify the headline, and put fundae.

4.

Pictures 1 and 2 are the flag and the coat of arms respectively, of the third largest city in Ireland.

Picture 3 is the photograph of an artist, illustrator, author and poet, a popular figure in 19th century Britain.

Connect.

5.

This is somebody's high school yearbook picture.

The caption says "We go play hoop" and the inscription reads "Thanks Tut, Gramps, Choom Gang, and Ray for all the good times". Choom is slang for “pot smoking”.

Who is this not-so-infamous person? (apologies for bad picture quality)

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

1. This picture was taken on November 9th, 2010 at the Dubai Mall Aquarium. What has been blanked out? Also identify the two guys.

2. 2010’s ‘Word of the Year’, named by the New Oxford American Dictionary, was coined by Sarah Palin, who introduced the term into US lexicon last July when she used it in a tweet about a proposed Islamic cultural centre near the WTC site in New York: “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls _____”. Oxford University Press has defined the word as a verb “used loosely to mean ‘reject’.” What's the good word?

3. This is the route map of something currently in our fair town. What?

Monday, November 15, 2010

1) X is the practice of using copyright law which gives users right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work. In other words, X is a general method for making a work free, and requiring all modified and extended versions of the program to be free as well. What is X.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

1. In what film did Kamal Haasan make a guest appearance, with all his dialogues being from his films?

2. This is the only national park in India that has the tiger, leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard. It is located close to the Myanmar border, near the Patkai ranges. The Himalayan black bear and the Red Panda which are found only in high altitudes are seen here. It is the only park in the world which has different heights at different levels and the altitudinal variation is as much as 4300 meters. Name it.